COLLABORATE INSTEAD

 

Collaboration is a cooperation in which individuals are not necessarily bound contractually. Collaboration is a business concept and strategy that brings together individuals of different ideologies, backgrounds and competencies to work together in achieving organisational goals. In collaboration, they work decisively and intentionally to solve problems and resolve issues. It is usually a win-win situation for everybody.

It is also very important to note that organisations don’t collaborate, individuals do. Organisations sign partnerships. Organisational partnerships can create a platform for individuals between different organisations to collaborate in order to live up to the terms of the partnership.

Collaboration and partnership are closely related but they are different from each other. In a partnership, organisations undergo a contractual process of negotiations; specifying of joint rights and responsibilities, equal share of risks and rewards and what documents to share between each other. Collaboration is the breeding ground for future successes in the organisation. 

Collaboration isn’t just for people of the same level or rank within an organisation, management can collaborate with junior employees of the organisation to achieve set objectives. The best way to actually achieve employee loyalty is through collaboration, it gives employees a great sense of belonging and ownership of the business.

Collaboration doesn’t always guarantee success, but it sure feels good putting your heads together instead of knocking them. Collaboration is beneficial to an organisation because;

• 1.      The process is open, inclusive, transparent, accessible and tailored to local needs
• 2.      Meetings are usually civil and safe. No bullies are allowed
• 3.      Deliberations are usually thoughtful, frank and never in a rush
• 4.      Commitments are honoured and trust is usually built on this confidence
• 5.      It’s a team effort, so everyone share in the wins and losses

There are several reasons why organisations must collaborate, some of them include;

• 1.      Collaboration provides an opportunity to bridge traditional divides within the organisation
• 2.      There is a track record of organisations that have been better managed as a result of collaboration
• 3.      It’s one of the ways of assuring public access to management decisions
• 4.      It assures even growth and development of the organisation

Organisations that must thrive in the face of external competitions must encourage their employees to work collaboratively with each other. Management should avoid pitching employees against each other, they should create a platform that will cause collaboration to thrive. Squash the competition, collaborate instead. 

SQUASH THAT COMPETITION

While building a business, competition is one of the factors that can make or mar the business. There are competitions that are healthy for businesses. When competition causes you as a business owner to think strategically and creatively on how to maximise your business potentials, then competition is healthy for your business. When you compete unhealthily, you further destroy your business’s core values and ruin your chances of achieving your organisation’s goals. Competition is like a double edged sword; on one hand it will help your business grow, and on the other hand, it can destroy your business.

There are two types of competition, external competition and internal competition. External competition helps you as a business owner to think strategically and creatively. External competition compels, motivates and spurs an organisation into action to penetrate the market, gain market share and actively engage in customer relations to retain customers and increase customer base. External competition triggers creativity and hard work. It causes you to improve. In how to eliminate competition, I discussed how you can maximise your business potentials to eliminate every form of external competition. But internal competition which is our major concern in this particle article is destructive, unhealthy, and so not cool for any business.

No business thrives in the face of internal competition because it is usually unhealthy.

This kind of competition is usually among team members, colleagues, management staff and even board members. It is usually a battle for supremacy within an organisation. Employees want to prove to each other that their strategies, methods, ideologies and techniques are better than their colleagues within the same organisation. They usually try to achieve this by every means possible even if it means destroying what they have built.

Internal competition does the following to an organisation;

• 1.      It puts employees, team members, management staff at loggerheads with each other
• 2.      It destroys teams
• 3.      It kills motivation
• 4.      It makes the work environment highly toxic and less conducive
• 5.      It weakens an organisation and makes it vulnerable to external forces.

An organisation that must grow to become a household name must squash every form of internal competition among its staff members.

Team members should learn to collaborate instead. Collaboration will ensure healthy growth of the organisation.